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World War II Propaganda
Beth Haselden, OPE, Fifth Grade Language Arts and Social Studies
I. Investigating Wartime Propaganda
This unit is designed to introduce fifth graders to propaganda, especially as it was used during
World War II. These language arts lessons should be timed to correspond with the study of
World War II in social studies classes. Students will examine primary resources as examples of
propaganda and bias
.
II. Unit Objectives
The student will evaluate World War II propaganda.
The learner will detect bias in propaganda.
The student will identify three propaganda techniques: bandwagon, transfer, and
stereotyping.
The learner will compare and contrast propaganda from different sources.
The student will create an original example of propaganda.
III. South Carolina English Language Arts Curriculum
Standards:
5-R1.18 Begin detecting bias and identifying propaganda techniques.
5-R1.5 Demonstrate the ability to analyze details in texts.
5-R1.15 Demonstrate the ability to respond to texts through writing and graphic
art.
5-R2.11 Demonstrate the ability to compare and contrast ideas in a variety of
texts.
5-R1.14 Demonstrate the ability to use graphic organizers as a means of
organizing information logically.
South Carolina Social Studies Curriculum
Standards:
5.5.1 Investigate the ways people can work together to promote the principles
and ideals of American democracy
5.5.3 Identify historical figures who shaped values and principles of American
democracy
5.2.10 Analyze the causes of World War II and explain why the United States
intervened
5.2.11 Explain the impact at home and abroad of the United States involvement
in World War II
5.12.4
Explain why and how people compete for control of Earth’s surface
Lesson Plans
IV. Introduction
Lesson One – Summary of US involvement in World War II with Power Point
Presentation. One - two class periods.
V. Development
Lesson -Two – Introduction to propaganda and bias. One class period.
Lesson Three – Identifying types of propaganda and bias used in World War II
with Guided Tour. Four-five class periods.
Lesson Four - Compare and contrast propaganda from different sources in World
War II. One to two class periods.
VI. Conclusion
Lesson Five – Creating World War II propaganda. One class period.
VII. Materials/Resources Available/Needed
Veterans or civilians from the World War II era that can come as speakers
Websites, including American Memory (see Favorite Links)
Samples of World War II propaganda (worksheets and posters)
Language arts study guide
Social studies notes
Crayons and colored pencils
Blank poster-sized paper for students
VIII. Equipment Needed
Computer access for the every student
Aver-key to connect computer to television
Internet access for television/computer connection
Large screen television for power point presentation
IX. Evaluation
Student examples of propaganda should show an understanding of the elements studied in
class. The following rubric can be used as an assessment tool.
History-Social Studies Rubric
4 - Excellent: The student's work is historically accurate, is
exceptionally detailed, meets or exceeds
grade-level requirements for written/oral communication.
Presentation is unique and visually
outstanding.
3 - Good: The student's work is historically accurate, contains
ample detail, and meets grade-level
requirements for written/oral communication. Presentation is
attractive.
2 - Fair: The student's work contains some historical inaccuracies,
needs more details, and contains
many errors in written/oral communication. Presentation lacks
quality and attention to detail.
1 - Poor: The student's work contains numerous historical
inaccuracies, lacks focus, and lacks content.
Presentation lacks effort.
Comments:
The above rubric was taken from the Learning Page of the Library of Congress Website
at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/lessons/99/fear/rubric.html.
X. Time Period
These lessons should be part of a cross-curriculum study of World War II. Therefore, the
historical content should already be familiar at the time of the propaganda study. In this
respect, these lessons should take no more than eight to ten days.
Lesson Details
Lesson One
1. Focus and Review – The focus of this lesson is to review basic facts of America’s
involvement in World War II, as the students have studied in their Social Studies classes.
Students will first be asked to use a circle map to fill out all the facts they know about
America in World War II. The teacher will then help students verify their facts with a
Power Point presentation.
2. Lesson Objectives 1. Students will make a circle map of facts they already know
about the U.S. in World War II.
2. Students will adjust and add to their circle map while
watching a teacher-led power point presentation.
3. The teacher will review the terms home front, civilians, and
military as students record these in their notes or spelling dictionaries.
3. Teacher Input – The teacher will make sure the students are recording the correct
facts in their notes, as well as identifying civilian efforts to support the American military
in World War II.
4. Guided Practice – Students will be given an article from the “Today in History” page
of the American memory website (see worksheet #1). Using highlighters, the students
need to highlight ways in which civilians helped the military in World War II. The
teacher will circulate to help students with any difficult vocabulary. If possible, any
veterans or civilians from the World War II years should be invited to speak to the class
during this time to give students a primary source of information on life in the home
front.
5. Independent Practice – Students will create a new circle map entitled the “American
Home Front in World War II”. On this map, they will record facts about the help effort
of American civilians during this war. In addition to the above article and/or visitor,
students can use the following to add to their circle maps:
Books:
Adler, David A. (1997). Hiding from the Nazis. New York: Holiday House, Inc.
Black, Wallace. (1991). Pearl Harbor! New York: Crestwood House Inc.
Coerr, Eleanor (1993). Sadako. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Inc.
Krull, Kathleen. (1995) V is for Victory. New York: Knopf.
Lowry, Lois. (1989). Number the Stars. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Morimoto, Junko. (1987). My Hiroshima. New York: Viking Penguin, Inc.
Yolen, Jane. (1998). The Devil’s Arithmetic. New York: Viking Penguin, Inc.
Websites:
http://www.children-of-the-camps.org/history/index.html
http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/DOF/japan/captioned/notgod.htm#top
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/start.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html
Multimedia:
“Executive Order 9066”. (1998). [CD-ROM]. Los Angeles: Grolier Educational.
“Nostalgia of World War II”. (1992). [videocassette]. Connecticut: Video Images.
6. Closure – The teacher will ask volunteers from the class to define home front,
civilians, and military. The students will also be able to identify the cause of the United
States entering World War II, the two sides of the war, and the names of some of
America’s enemies. This lesson should prepare the students for the following lesson on
how propaganda was used on the home front during World War II.
Lesson Details
Lesson Two
1. Focus and Review - The focus of this lesson is to introduce propaganda and bias.
2. Lesson Objectives – 1. Students will be able to define and give examples of
propaganda.
2. Students will be able to define and give examples of bias.
3. Teacher Input – The teacher will introduce the word propaganda by first writing it on
a board/overhead in order for students to see its spelling. Next, the teacher will generate
a discussion with students by asking them if they are familiar with advertising. The
teacher will ask students to give examples of advertisements and the points of such
advertisements (to get the buyer to purchase a particular product). The teacher can then
use this discussion as a lead-in to propaganda, explaining to the students that propaganda
is the promotion of ideas (not products) and uses ideas to get people to act on their
feelings. The teacher will point out that propaganda, like advertising, tries to get you to
lean toward a favorite. The teacher will define bias as being partial to a favorite, simply
because of one’s feelings toward that favorite.
4. Guided Practice – The teacher will provide the students with a study guide (see
worksheet #2) and have students highlight the terms propaganda and bias. On the study
guide, students should write in examples of both propaganda and bias as generated by
their peers.
5. Independent Practice – The students will design their own example of propaganda
by sketching a brief picture. Their examples of propaganda should show bias.
6. Closure – As a closing activity, students will share their propaganda with the class.
As part of their oral presentations, students should identify the emotion to which they are
making their appeal, and the bias they are trying to project onto their audience.
Lesson Details
Lesson Three
1. Focus and Review - Students will first review the definitions of propaganda and bias
from the previous lesson. The focus of this lesson will be to introduce the types of
propaganda used during World War II, and the effects of that propaganda on the
American home front.
2. Lesson Objectives – 1. Students will be able to define and recognize the bandwagon
effect in propaganda.
2. Students will be able to define and recognize the transfer
technique in propaganda.
3 Students will be able to define and recognize stereotyping in
propaganda.
4. Students will be able to analyze some of the positive and
negative effects of World War II propaganda on American values.
3. Teacher Input - The teacher will refer students to the propaganda study guide
(worksheet #2) and define three types of propaganda: bandwagon, transfer, and
stereotyping. The teacher will guide a discussion of the examples of these types of
propaganda, asking students if they have any examples of their own. Students should
share possible examples with the class. Next, the teacher will refer students back to the
cause of the United States entering World War II (the bombing of Pearl Harbor). The
teacher must also remind the students that Americans had already recognized Adolf
Hitler and Nazi Germany as a foe. The teacher must explain to the students that as part
of the home front effort following Pearl Harbor, the American government began using
propaganda as a widespread means of promoting the war.
4. Guided Practice – Students will be given a copy of some examples of propaganda
from World War II (worksheet #3). The teacher leads the students through examples 1-4,
asking them to identify the types of propaganda being used in the various posters. The
teacher should spend the longest amount of time on the stereotyping example (#4) and
ask the students to identify ways stereotyping can be damaging to certain groups who are
stereotyped. The teacher should be sure to include these focus questions while examining
the posters:
1. Who is the intended audience of this poster?
2. What are some symbols of America that you can identify in
this poster?
3. How does this poster hope to bias the audience?
5. Independent Practice – The students are given more examples of World War II
propaganda to identify on their own (worksheet #4). The teacher should then go over the
answers to this sheet with the class. As a supplement to this activity, students should be
given 2-3 days in a computer lab to complete the guided tour on Japanese internment. As
part of this guided tour, students will examine the way fear and prejudice led to the
internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans. The final portion of this guided tour asks
students to look at types of propaganda that were used to support feelings of hate toward
the Japanese during World War II. Students will be asked to infer how this contributed to
feelings of prejudice against Japanese Americans.
6. Closure – The teacher reviews the guided tour questions with students in order that
they may check over their answers. The lesson should conclude with a discussion of how
stereotyping can help support prejudice toward those groups of people who are
stereotyped. This discussion can refer back to previous studies of groups of people who
have experienced the brunt of prejudice (slaves, immigrants, etc.)
Lesson Details
Lesson Four
1. Focus and Review – The focus of this lesson is to compare and contrast propaganda
from opposing sides of World War II. First students must review the different types of
propaganda studied – bandwagon, transfer, and stereotyping. The teacher can ask
students to refer back to previous worksheets (worksheets #3 and #4) to refresh their
memories on different types of propaganda.
2. Lesson Objectives – 1. The student will be able to identify how German and
American propaganda during World War II was different.
2. The student will be able to identify how German and
American propaganda during World War II was similar.
3. The student will be able to analyze how the German and
American propaganda of World War II is relative to their governments.
3. Teacher Input – The teacher will give students examples of American propaganda
and translated German propaganda (worksheet #5). Students will be asked to make a
graphic organizer of their choice – a double bubble map or Venn diagram - to show the
similarities and differences of German and American propaganda techniques during
World War II.
4. Guided Practice – The teacher will facilitate questions to help students compare and
contrast German and American propaganda. Some examples of focus questions are as
follows:
1. Who is the subject of the poster – civilian or military? Are the
subjects young or old, happy or sad?
2. How are the posters hoping to bias the audience?
3. What are the emotions the audience is intended to feel as a
result of this poster?
4. What propaganda techniques are being used in the different
posters?
When the students have completed their maps, the teacher can review their ideas by
posting them on a large graphic organizer, visible for the entire class.
5. Independent Practice – Students will be asked to analyze what the propaganda
posters from the two different countries say about the American and German
governments at that time. Students should write a response journal on the propaganda
posters, describing what elements of Hitler’s dictatorship can be seen in German
propaganda, and what elements of Roosevelt’s democracy can be seen in American
propaganda.
6. Closure – Students can volunteer to share their response journals in the classroom
author’s chair. Following each student’s sharing time, the teacher should allow other
students to give feedback in the form or questions or comments.
Lesson Details
Lesson Five
1. Focus and Review – The teacher should lead a whole unit review of propaganda. The
focus of this unit is to have students create their own piece of World War II
propaganda.
2. Lesson Objectives – 1. Students should be able to identify propaganda and bias.
2. Students should be able to identify propaganda as having:
bandwagon, transfer, or stereotyping.
3. Students should be able to apply knowledge of World War II
propaganda into making their own example of propaganda.
3. Teacher Input – The teacher should first have students to define propaganda and
bias, and also provide examples of both.
4. Guided Practice – The teacher should make poster-sized versions of some of the
World War II propaganda studied in this unit (see image table). The teacher can then
hold these examples in front of the class to quiz the students on the type of propaganda
used, the intended audience, and the bias of each poster.
5. Independent Practice – Students should create their own piece of World War II
propaganda, using their knowledge of World War II and the propaganda of the era. The
teacher should allow the students some time to sketch a rough draft. Based on the needs
of the learners, the teacher should determine whether or not students will be able to refer
to their World War II history notes or propaganda study guide for help with their project.
After students complete their rough drafts, they should put their World War II
propaganda on a piece of poster board or other poster-sized piece of paper.
6. Closure – As the final activity of this unit, students present their World War II
propaganda posters. Each student should give a brief summary of the historical event to
which their poster refers. Next, students should read any text on their poster to the class,
and explain any artwork if necessary. Students should quiz their peers on what
propaganda technique was used, what bias was used, and to name the intended audience
of the poster. The presenter can then tell their audience if their responses were correct or
not. Finally, each presenter should take questions and comments from their audience to
get some feedback on their poster. An assessment method for the student posters can be
found under Evaluation.